Support

The Spence Group will focus on development of new single-particle sample-delivery systems for viruses and macromolecules, which aim to improve the hit rate from its current value of about 1% in gas-phase injectors, which are free of water background. Secondly, they will continue development of new data analysis methods for both nanocrystals and single particles. These include use expectation maximization for partial reflections and angular correlation methods for single particles. The Spence Group is also heavily involved in improvement of pump-probe time-resolved nanocrystallography instrumentation. Work on the development of slower jets, which require use of much less protein, continues in collaboration with the Weierstall group also at ASU.